Updated 10:16 pm, Saturday, October 5, 2013

It's particularly true in Stamford, where the second-largest and fastest-growing block of voters has nothing to do with political parties.

They are unaffiliated. According to information from the Secretary of the State, those voters number 23,084 in Stamford.

That's only 2,927 fewer than the city's largest block of registered voters, Democrats. And it's 9,230 more than the number of registered Republicans in Stamford.

So it's no surprise that nine Republican candidates running for office in Stamford petitioned the Secretary of the State for endorsement from the Independent Party. It labels you as non-establishment, not a party lackey, which appeals to unaffiliated voters and probably some who are registered as Democrats and Republicans.

And it gets you listed on the ballot twice, once under the name of a major political party and once under the Independent Party name.

That helps when you are a Republican in Stamford, where twice the number of registered voters are Democrats.

City Republicans have the example of a fellow Stamfordite, albeit from another party, to weigh how well a minor-party endorsement can work.

In the 2010 gubernatorial race, onetime Stamford mayor and now Gov. Dannel Malloy appeared on the ballot twice -- once under the Democratic Party and once under the Working Families Party. Malloy attracted 26,308 votes as a Working Families Party candidate, which helped put him over the top in his close battle with Republican Tom Foley.

But it appears that there was confusion over what paperwork to submit to whom. Most of the candidates seem to have missed the deadlines, along with the Independent Party caucus, held in Danbury on Aug. 27.

It appears that no registered Independents from Stamford attended the caucus in Danbury. It was not publicized in Stamford. Notice was printed in the Danbury newspaper.

In the end the Secretary of the State approved only two Republicans for endorsement by the Independent Party -- Fedele and Loglisci.

So when Stamford residents go to the ballot boxes next month, they will see Fedele and Loglisci each listed twice, as Republicans and Independents.

Other candidates are fuming. Some Republicans want to know why the rules for obtaining an Independent Party endorsement weren't made clearer, and Democrats say the Independent Party -- at least the faction based in Danbury -- is not independent at all, but Republican.

The Danbury faction is chaired by Roger Palanzo, assistant to Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, a Republican who is considering a run for governor in 2014.

Boughton was Fedele's runningmate when Fedele made a bid for governor in 2010. Fedele lost the nomination to Tom Foley in the Republican primary, but Boughton won the party nomination for lieutenant governor. So Boughton ended up running with Foley. They lost to Malloy.

The other faction of the Independent Party is headquartered in Waterbury and headed by Mike Telesca. An elections officer for the Secretary of the State, Pearl Williams, told The Advocate Telesca is "a leader" of the party.

Telesca said the party feud is rooted in a difference in philosophy.

"Elements in Danbury have sold out the Independent Party to the Republicans. They want a counterweight to the Working Families Party," which backs Democrats, Telesca said. "They want to cross-endorse every Republican in every race in the state.

"I don't have anything against Republicans or Democrats. I am not a Republican and I am not a Democrat," Telesca said. "When the Independent Party endorses candidates, I want it to be up to the caucus members in the districts. I want to see nice, clean-run caucuses held in the districts where the candidates will run, and I want them to be well-publicized."

In 2009 Telesca came to Stamford to help registered Independents run a caucus that endorsed the then-Republican candidate, Michael Pavia, who became mayor. Notice of the caucus was filed with the Stamford city clerk and advertised in a Stamford newspaper, and it was held at a Stamford pizzeria.

But Boughton said the Republicans who met in Danbury "are not doing anything different than what the Democrats are doing with the Working Families Party."

The Independent Party "has endorsed candidates in towns across the state for many years. They can endorse whoever they like, as long as it goes according to the party bylaws."

Like other minor parties, the Independent Party may caucus to endorse Stamford candidates without publishing notice in Stamford and without holding the caucus in Stamford, Boughton said.

Voters "can make whatever judgment they want when they go into the booth," Boughton said.